1271: National Languages: Colonies Jun 3, 2018

Historical reasons for picking a national language have been discussed here before, but there are also other dimensions which former colonies had to grapple with. Some former colonies chose to stick to the language of the past colonial power, as with Nigeria or India, because there were so many languages spoken that it acts as a lingua franca; this is similar in Malaysia where, though the majority speak Malaysian, the government did not want the Malay to be unequally powerful, and all three countries use English. In other countries, such as Indonesia, having a distinct national language was deemed necessary in order to promote national unity against foreign powers, even though at least hundreds of languages are spoken there. Some countries opt for no official language, and will allow for more regionalism, or will use a de facto national language, such as is the case with the US.

Check out the video released today: https://youtu.be/tY6_zs7-k5I